The Key to Humanity
by Darrak
Summary: Dawn finds Damon lying in the middle of the road after the death of Rose.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

Set post BtVS and just before the ending of s02e12 (The Descent) of TVD.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The night was peaceful and quiet, the only thing penetrating the silence was the dark car making its way down the lonesome road at a steady pace.

Sitting in the dark, the headlights of the car the only thing that illuminated the road, Dawn could once again feel the weariness set in.

It wasn't just the normal tiredness of a person who had done nothing but drive for the past five days. Though she could admit, that perhaps it hadn't been her brightest idea. But she had needed this. Whatever this was.

 _To get away_ , her inner voice whispered.

Life hadn't been easy. They had all had their own demons to fight after the destruction of Sunnydale, but where there had gradually been improvement to be seen with the others, Dawn had felt like she was slowly suffocating.

She still couldn't put her finger down and say exactly when it had become too much. Just that it had. So she had packed a back, written her sister a letter - thanking God that Buffy had been out on patrol - and just left.

Dawn had thought that her sister would demand her return immediately. Buffy however had surprised her. She had called her, admitting that she had seen Dawn struggling but thinking that she had just needed a little longer than the rest of them. Buffy had taken a deep breath and told her, that if this was what Dawn thought she needed, she would support it.

She still felt like pinching herself to see if she was dreaming.

But in the end she had realized that her sister had meant what she had said. Apart from the daily I'm-still-alive message to Buffy, there had been no contact between the sisters.

Buffy had accepted that this was something Dawn had to deal with herself.

* * *

The clock on the dashboard let her know that she had only been driving for half an hour since she last checked when she saw something lying in the middle of the road just up ahead. Slowing down and coming to an halt a few feet from the lump, she considered her options before reaching the one she probably shouldn't.

"This is a bad idea Dawn," she mumbled softly to herself as she slowly exited the car and made her way to the black, human shaped lump lying just in front of her car. "But then again, it _is_ Tuesday."

Rolling her eyes at herself she took a deep breath and stepped closer to the lump.

"Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly. Contrary to what her sister might think, she wasn't suicidal. Dawn liked to think of it as just having really bad luck, which happened to be reflected in all the times she had been kidnapped in her rather short life.

"I'm lost," came the whispered answer, followed by a few pitiful groans.

She was now so close that she could see him. And it was definitely a male. Growing up with the likes of Angel and Spike she was used to handsome men, but this? This was perfection. She blinked at him, taking in his handsome, chiseled features and the mess of black hair. His eyes were still closed, but she would bet her life, that they were just as unique that the person they belonged to.

She let her eyes wander down his body and had to bite back a groan of her own. Yes, this was what perfection looked like.

Tearing her gaze away from him for a couple of seconds helped her enough to clear her head so she in her best Buffy voice could pan "You're lying in the middle of the road."

He opened his eyes then and she had been right. It was the most beautiful ice-blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Not that kind of lost ..." Groaning he sat up and let his eyes meet hers "Metaphorically. Existentially."

Not knowing what else to say, she blurted out the fell thing that came to mind. "Do you need help?"

"Yes I do." Taking out a flask that had previously been hidden inside his leather coat, he took a long swallow before asking, "can you help?"

"You're drunk," Dawn stated with furrowed brows. There was something so familiar over this whole thing, but it kept escaping her, before she could put her finger on it.

Dawn almost missed his slurred, "no. Mmm, yes. Maybe a little."'

Indecision warred in her mind but in the end she couldn't help it. Turning around and making her way back to the car for the warm blanket she had in the trunk, she heard the rustle of clothes and the man's voice pleading her not to leave and ending with a broken, "I really do need help."

Before she had the time to spin around and reassure him, she heard a rustle of leaves and he was suddenly standing right in front of her. With a gasp Dawn took a step backwards in surprise. So much for this not being something supernatural.

"Don't move," he said, pupils dilating while looking into her eyes.

Dawn's first impulse was to run but a nagging voice in the back of her mind held her back. So for the moment she did as told. No sooner than he had ordered her not to move, did he turn his back on her. She frowned, something about this reminded her of Buffy's tale of the time Dracula had come to town and had put a thrall on both her and Xander. The eye thing definitely sounded like what her sister had tried to explain Dracula doing.

But all the same she had to try and make this as painless as possible. For the both of them. "I don't want any trouble."

At that he turned around again. The anguish shining in his eyes almost bringing Dawn to her knees. "That's all I have."

Testing the waters she made her voice as small and scared as possible, something that had helped her several times during various kidnappings, and asked, "why can't I move?"

The small sad smile he gave confirmed her suspicion. He was entirely sure that she couldn't move after his demand. If only he knew.

"What's your name?" He asked, swallowing another load of whatever alcohol he had in his flask before putting his hands lightly on her shoulders.

She didn't even pause before answering truthfully, "Dawn".

"Dawn ... I have a secret ... a big one. But I've never said it out loud." His brows furrowed and his lips thinned "What's the point? It's not gonna change anything. It's not gonna make me good, make me adopt a puppy. I can't be what other people want me to be." He looked down for at moment before lifting his gaze to hers again, his eyes shining with unshed tears and raw emotion. "What she wants me to be."

"This is who I am," he hissed, invading her space, lashing out and trying to drive his point through.

"Are you going to hurt me?" She wasn't afraid. Perhaps it came from a foolish desire to always see the good in everybody, but she just couldn't see him hurting her.

"I don't know," he heaved a deep sigh. "You are my existential crisis. Do I kill you or do I not kill you?"

"You don't have to do it," Dawn offered, all the while understanding that he needed to make this decision on his own. He needed to decide if succumbing to his dark urges was the answer or if he could rise from the ash - become a better man. Only then could she help him. And if he should choose wrong, she would protect herself, no matter the cost.

"But I have to Dawn, because I'm not human. And I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world!" At that the tears fell. "That is my secret. But there is only so much hurt a man can take."

Dawn was silent. Waiting.

"Okay ..." he finally said. She let herself look into his eyes, noticing for a second time how his pupils dilated while he told her, "you can leave now."

After the first time, she was now absolutely certain that this was some form of thrall. Which would mean that the man standing in front of her could only be a vampire.

And with that thought it hit her like a lightning strike why the conversation had been so familiar. Who the man ... vampire ... reminded her of.

So Dawn said the only thing she could.

"No."

* * *

 **Yes. Compulsion doesn't work on Dawn, where would the fun be in that? Any guesses to the person Damon reminds Dawn of?**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **TBC**


End file.
